Jailbreak

Cydia

Apple's recently revised privacy policy has raised some eyebrows, particularly the section about how the company - along with its partners and licensees - "may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device." Now, these newly carved terms of service regarding Apple's location-based features have attracted the attention of US lawmakers.

Congress - and, in particular, the co-chairmen of the House Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus - wants an explanation from Apple. From MMi's threads to newspaper headlines, Congress has taken notice of the rampant concern that Apple is collecting (possibly with the intention of sharing) important user data like the geographic location of iPhone and iPad use. On Tuesday, Paul covered the update and noted that while Google has been skillful about collecting user data since the arrival of Android, Apple and its flurry of patents for location-based ad services suggests that Cupertino is actively ramping up the intensity with which private data could be exploited.

Although Steve Jobs has been known to respond to email on occasion, he is yet to respond to mine regarding this matter. It might, however, be in his best interest to respond to the letter he received Thursday from Reps. Edward J. Markey and Joe Barton, who stated: "Given the limited ability of Apple users to opt out of the revised policy and still be able to take advantage of the features of their Apple products, we are concerned about the impact the collection of such data could have on the privacy of Apple's customers."

For now, Apple says users should have no privacy concerns because data is collected anonymously. But no shortage of analysts suggest that the data Apple is collecting could, in fact, be used to identify people "based on behavior patterns."